Israeli Journos Kicked Out of Bethlehem

1. Goodwill to men took a hit in Bethlehem on Christmas when the PA expelled Israeli journalists covering the holiday celebrations. The anti-normalization campaign (which dominates Palestinian journalists) struck again. The Jerusalem Post fills in the sorry details:

The PA Ministry of Information said the decision was taken at the request of Palestinian journalists, who protested against the presence of their Israeli colleagues at Manger Square in the city.

The journalists who were kicked out of Bethlehem worked for Haaretz, i-24 News, Channel 1 and Arutz Sheva, the ministry said.

2. The IDF launched retaliatory air strikes on Gaza terror sites after a Palestinian cross-border sniper killed an Israeli civilian doing repair work on the border fence. Salah Shukri Abu Latyef, a 22 year-old Bedouin, was on his first day of work for a defense contractor. A three year-old Palestinian girl was also killed by shrapnel. Jerusalem Post coverage suffices.

3. A coalition of Palestinian journalists in Gaza wants to shake off the chains of groupthink and partisan press. An admirable goal, but judging from veteran AP reporter Mohammed Daraghmeh’s comments to The Media Line, the group’s starting from a frighteningly low base line:

“These journalists work in media that has a lot of propaganda and little information,” he told The Media Line, adding that some have never been introduced to media founded on facts.

• Ambassador Ron Dermer was in Florida visiting the editorial board of the Miami Herald. The editors were especially interested to hear why Israel controversially blocked an intelligence official to testify in a Florida family’s anti-terror lawsuit against the Bank of China. Daniel Wultz was killed in a 2006 Islamic Jihad suicide bombing. The lawsuit tied the Bank of China to the terror group.

Dermer expressed sympathy for the family but said the decision to keep the intelligence official from testifying was a matter of national security.

“If your courts decide that an intelligence official can be subpoenaed to speak in open court about information he received . . . how are you going to be able to continue any intelligence relationships with countries around the world?” Dermer said. “So, for sure, Israel cannot allow someone to testify on information he got in an official capacity. There’s no question about it.”

• I hope Santa leaves lumps of coal in the stockings of everyone responsible for Bethlehem dispatches in The Independent and Times of London. Bah humbug indeed.

• Israeli-Arab Knesset member Ahmed Tibi took to The Hill to claim Israel’s ‘Jim Crow’ treatment of the Palestinians continues. Druze Knesset member Hamad Amar replied back that Israel offers full rights to all.

• Lead screed goes to Ali Jarbawi, a former PA cabinet minister who accuses Israel for robbing the Palestinians of hope and violating human rights, but not for PA insolvency or the Arab Spring. This NY Times commentary posits that all these factors are contributing to an upcoming intifada.

I like what Elliot Hass has to say. And when the “Palestinian” Arabs leave, they have Arab land, totaling 660 times the land of Israel to settle into. Interesting that the Arabs haven’t made a “Palestinian state”. That is because they are using the Palestinians to destroy Israel.

Israeli Journos Kicked Out of Bethlehem: Here is another example of how things are and will continue to be in the future. There will never be a “lasting peace.” It is unfortunate that this division widens between peoples. Therefore, Israel must continue to maintain and strengthen its current status in the Middle East. A Palestinian state is inevitable in the future, but Israel must maintain it’s presence around the West Bank to insure its securing.

It was a big mistake to allow Bethlehem to be part of the Palestinian territories, the PA never ceases to use religious festivals, especially Christmas, to propagandize and score points against Israel. The joke is that the Muslims in the West Bank have driven the Christians out of Bethlehem so that now they are a minority there.

Israel should kick all the Palestinians out of all the original inherited land. That is the so-called West Bank or better to say Judea and Samaria. Then every other place, including Gaza. After they leave, they should burn these areas occupied by Palestinians to cleanse the land from them.